Your website is the foundation of your digital marketing efforts, making it essential to get the design right. With a professional web design service, you can avoid common mistakes during the design process, helping you steer clear of costly issues and ensuring a smooth, effective user experience.
To help you avoid these pitfalls, we’ve put together a list of eleven common website design mistakes.
Read on to learn about the key design flaws to watch out for and how to fix them. And, for ongoing tips and strategies, don’t forget to subscribe to Revenue Weekly!
One of the most common web design service mistakes companies make is poor navigation. Users want to access information quickly and easily, and if they can’t, they won’t stay on your site for long. The longer they struggle to find what they’re looking for, the more likely they are to leave in frustration and visit a competitor’s site instead.
If your navigation is messy or hard to follow, it can frustrate visitors and drive them away. A disorganized menu may lead to important pages being buried, making it difficult for users to find what they need. This confusion causes people to leave your site, hurting your chances of engaging potential customers and ultimately impacting your conversion rates.
To fix bad navigation, start by organizing your site’s structure logically. Group similar pages together and make sure your most important pages are easy to access. Use clear labels for menu items, and ensure that your navigation is consistent across all pages. Test your navigation on multiple devices to ensure it’s mobile-friendly and works well for all users. By simplifying and streamlining the navigation, you’ll improve user experience, increase engagement, and keep leads on your site longer.
If you believe your website suffers from difficult navigation, here are a few steps you can take to resolve the issue:
Consider consulting with a professional web design service to ensure your navigation is optimized for a smooth user experience.
Many websites make the mistake of cramming every available space with content, whether it’s too much text or an overload of images. This cluttered design is one of the most frequent issues, causing visitors to quickly leave and return to search results.
When your site is filled with too many elements, it can overwhelm users and make it difficult for them to focus on what truly matters. This often leads to them leaving your site before they have the chance to explore your business or engage with your offerings.
One of the biggest website design mistakes is adding walls of text to your pages. While users do seek information, long, dense paragraphs can be intimidating and overwhelming, pushing visitors away.
Internet users prefer content that is easy to scan, and when they come across large blocks of text, they are likely to click away. People tend to skim, so if your text is difficult to digest, they won’t stick around.
To keep users engaged, make your content scannable. Use clear headings, bullet points, and short paragraphs to break up the text. This makes it easier for visitors to quickly find the information they’re looking for, encouraging them to stay on your site longer.
If you’re searching for a poor web design example to avoid, difficult-to-read fonts should be at the top of your list. Choosing the right font for your site is just as crucial as picking your color scheme. If your font is hard to read, visitors won’t be able to engage with your content.
There are four common font mistakes businesses often make that can hurt readability:
One of the most significant website design mistakes a company can make is mishandling its color palette. Colors aren’t just decorative—they set the tone for your entire site and have a psychological impact on users. Choosing the wrong color combinations or overloading your design with too many hues can immediately make your website feel chaotic and off-putting.
Colors are the first thing visitors will notice when they land on your site, and if they’re used incorrectly, they can create confusion. Using too many colors makes it difficult for users to know where to focus their attention, distracting them from your key messages or calls to action. A simple, cohesive palette ensures that your visitors can quickly process the design and navigate without frustration.
Since colors are strongly tied to brand identity, selecting the right ones is essential for making a good impression. The colors you choose not only influence how users feel but also help reinforce your business values. Consistent, well-thought-out colors will enhance your brand recognition and improve the overall user experience, making visitors more likely to engage and return.
Calls-to-action (CTAs) are crucial for driving user engagement and conversions. Whether you want visitors to sign up for your newsletter, follow your social media profiles, or schedule an appointment, having compelling CTAs is key to guiding them toward taking action.
Several common CTA mistakes can hinder your website’s effectiveness:
Not using CTAs at all: A website without CTAs is like a shop without a checkout counter—there’s no clear way to engage with your business. Make sure every page has a clear CTA that guides users toward the next step.
Lack of action-driven language: If your CTAs are too vague, users won’t know what to do next. Use strong, action-oriented words like “Get Started,” “Download Now,” or “Sign Up Today” to make your CTA compelling and clear.
Failing to entice users: If your CTAs are dull or not valuable to users, they won’t be effective. Offer incentives, such as discounts or free resources, to entice users to act.
Choosing the wrong button color: Your CTA button should stand out and grab attention, so choose a color that contrasts with the rest of your page. It should be noticeable without clashing with your overall design.
Not signaling that CTAs are clickable: If users aren’t sure that a CTA is clickable, they might overlook it. Make sure your buttons are designed to be clearly interactive, using appropriate hover effects and visual cues.
Ultimately, your CTAs should make it clear to visitors what your business does and provide them with an easy way to take action. Make the conversion process as seamless and enticing as possible to drive results.
One common mistake businesses make is allowing their website design and content to become outdated.
An old design can give your site a less trustworthy appearance and signal to users that you’re not prioritizing your online presence. When your design feels outdated, visitors may assume your content is equally behind the times.
Outdated content has a similar effect, causing your website’s credibility to drop. Visitors may question the reliability of the information presented, leading them to seek more current sources.
When people see outdated content, they’re more likely to leave your site quickly and look for fresher, more relevant information elsewhere. Keeping your site updated with modern design and relevant content is key to maintaining user trust and engagement.
Mobile-responsive web design service is essential for ensuring a seamless online experience. With over 50% of internet traffic coming from mobile devices, it’s crucial for businesses to optimize their websites for mobile users.
If your site isn’t mobile-responsive, visitors using tablets or smartphones will struggle with a poor browsing experience. They’ll be forced to view the desktop version of your site, making it harder to read content and navigate efficiently, which could drive them away. By implementing a responsive design, you ensure that your site adapts to any screen size, improving accessibility and user engagement.
A slow-loading website is one of the most damaging design mistakes a business can make. Visitors are impatient and expect fast-loading pages; if your site takes too long to load, they’ll quickly move on to your competitors.
Users typically expect a webpage to load within two seconds. If your website exceeds this, it’s crucial to optimize your site’s performance. Speeding up your load times can drastically improve user retention and reduce bounce rates, ultimately enhancing the user experience.
In today’s digital age, securing personal information on your website is non-negotiable. An unsecure site drives visitors away, leading to higher bounce rates and poor SEO performance. A secure website reassures users, encouraging them to browse and engage confidently. In web design and SEO, security directly impacts user experience and search rankings.
For ecommerce platforms, a secure site is critical to earning customers’ trust. Shoppers are hesitant to share credit card details on an unsecure website, which could hurt sales. Ensuring top-notch security not only safeguards sensitive data but also improves the success of Google Ads campaigns by boosting credibility.
Whether you’re asking for names, emails, or other details, website security is essential to gain users’ trust. A secure site strengthens your web design’s reliability and ensures better SEO performance. Security builds confidence and encourages users to engage with your site.
An incomplete web design instantly makes your site appear unreliable, driving visitors away. Poorly wrapped text, broken links, and disorganized layouts create a negative user experience. A polished, cohesive design is essential for building trust and ensuring visitors stay on your page. Strong web design supports SEO efforts and enhances the effectiveness of Google Ads campaigns.
Disorganized layouts and faulty elements can make your website look outdated or unprofessional. Ensure text aligns properly with images, links function seamlessly, and the site layout remains intuitive. A well-structured design helps keep users engaged, reduces bounce rates, and improves search rankings.
Is Your Website Holding You Back?
Let’s face it—bad website design is bad for business and can cost you money and opportunities online. If your site feels outdated or ineffective, it’s time for a website makeover.
ECLIPSE Has the Expertise to Transform Your Website
Whether you need a fresh design or an update to your current site, ECLIPSE has the tools and talent to help. Our award-winning web design service portfolio showcases how we’ve helped clients create stunning, functional websites they love.
Ready for a Revamp? Contact ECLIPSE Today!
Talk to a web design service specialist today and see how ECLIPSE can breathe new life into your website. A better design means better business results!
Avoiding common web design mistakes is essential for a functional and engaging website. Clear navigation, minimal design, and mobile responsiveness are key factors in enhancing user experience and reducing bounce rates. Simplifying content, using readable fonts, and ensuring security help retain visitors and boost SEO performance. Outdated design and content can hurt credibility and user trust, so regular updates are necessary to maintain a fresh, relevant online presence.
A well-designed website not only improves engagement but also positively impacts your business’s overall success. If your current site struggles with these issues, partnering with a professional web design service agency like ECLIPSE can bring the expertise and creativity needed to transform it. Investing in a user-friendly, modern site is an investment in your business’s growth, ensuring a seamless experience for visitors and increased conversions.
How do I choose the right CMS platform for my website?
A content management system (CMS) is crucial for managing your website’s design and content. Picking the right CMS ensures scalability, ease of use, and flexibility.
Why is website accessibility important for my business?
Making your website accessible to users with disabilities is not only legally required but also expands your customer base by reaching a wider audience.
How often should I update my website’s design and content?
Regular updates are essential to keep your website fresh, relevant, and competitive. Schedule design reviews and content updates every 6–12 months.
What role do images and graphics play in web design?
High-quality visuals engage visitors and help communicate your message. Poorly optimized or irrelevant images can slow down your site and distract from your key messages.
How can I measure the success of my website’s design?
Use metrics like bounce rate, conversion rate, and user engagement to evaluate your design’s effectiveness. Regularly monitor these KPIs to ensure your site meets its goals.
Gr***sM**an**e
content comes before design – what is the page meant to convey? Then figure how to make it pretty more than half your users are using a phone and fingers to navigate. The popularity of CSS frameworks is because people don’t like reinventing layouts or UI for each instance, and users follow consistent patterns. A design system is how you say “this is how headings will always look, this is how forms will always function”, and then you deviate with rare exceptions
gn***t
Bottom line, having a signed contract/brief, with a very very clear scope of responsibilities/tasks/milestones/deliverables for both parties involved. You don’t want to be months into a project and have problems because no one had clear guidelines.